diff --git a/drivers/bus/fsl-mc/fsl-mc-allocator.c b/drivers/bus/fsl-mc/fsl-mc-allocator.c
index e906ecfe23dd..9cb0733a0399 100644
--- a/drivers/bus/fsl-mc/fsl-mc-allocator.c
+++ b/drivers/bus/fsl-mc/fsl-mc-allocator.c
@@ -292,8 +292,10 @@ int __must_check fsl_mc_object_allocate(struct fsl_mc_device *mc_dev,
 		goto error;
 
 	mc_adev = resource->data;
-	if (!mc_adev)
+	if (!mc_adev) {
+		error = -EINVAL;
 		goto error;
+	}
 
 	*new_mc_adev = mc_adev;
 	return 0;